Geosynthetics April/May 2021 - 36

GMA NEWS
GMA is dedicated to
our members' success.
GMA actively identifies,
assesses, analyzes
and acts upon market
growth opportunities
and issues that affect
its member companies.
The activities of
the association are
proactive in nature and
center on five areas:
» Engineering support
» Business development
» Education
» Government relations
» Geosynthetics industry
recognition

Bryan Gee is the director of
education and training at
Tensar and the chair of the
GMA executive council.

By Bryan Gee and
Fred C. Chuck

Chair's corner
By Bryan Gee

hat's in a name? For those of us who work in the geosynthetics industry, this
question may be more important than you think. A recent call with a high-level
federal policy maker brought this home to me. With no prior knowledge of our industry, this person did not understand what geosynthetic materials are, or what they do,
and was not able to understand these things based on the word " geosynthetics " alone.
We explained some basics of our industry and products, and from there we had a very
productive call.
How often do you find yourself in a similar situation? Do your friends outside our
industry have even a basic understanding of what you do? I vividly remember trying to
explain my company's products and how they are used to my father many years ago. We
made it to the aha moment, but it took a while.
Geosynthetics have been around for decades, and over that time we have continuously
introduced new innovations and improved design methodologies. Yet we still see these
materials used in only a fraction of the projects where they can add value. Even those
who have some understanding of our field often confuse the names and functions of the
many geosynthetic products. After all these years, very few of the people you meet on the
street would have any idea what our materials are. Sadly, as in the phone call I described
above, some of these are people in positions that are important for growing our industry.
I invite you to think about how we might solve this problem. Can you find a better
way to help nonexperts understand what our materials are and what they do? The name
of this magazine, Geosynthetics, has five syllables. Can you explain what it is about using
words with no more than three syllables? The answers to these questions will be key factors in our mission of expanding adoption of the solutions we have to offer.

GMA happenings
By Fred C. Chuck

Fred C. Chuck is the
executive director of GMA.

Division
Geosynthetics is the official
publication of the Geosynthetic
Materials Association.

As we entered the month of February, our schedules would normally be preparing us to
attend multiple industry trade shows. Unfortunately, the pandemic had caused all our inperson conferences to move to virtual, and the Geosynthetics Conference 2021 (Feb. 22-25,
2021) was no different. Additionally, our sister event, the International Erosion Control
Association (IECA) Annual Conference and Expo, which was scheduled to co-locate with
the Geosynthetics Conference 2021, was likewise moved to a virtual platform. However,
there were benefits to the virtual meeting. Attendees had the opportunity to access a wide
variety of educational offerings, with 40 professional development hours (PDHs) offered at
a significant savings over a regular in-person event across both the Geosynthetics and IECA
conferences, including technical presentations, panel discussions, roundtable discussions,
special sessions and short courses.

Geosynthetics April/May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geosynthetics April/May 2021